The history and impact of air pollution at Čertovo Lake,southwestern Czech Republic

This multi-disciplinary investigation documents the longterm effects of atmospheric pollution of metals and acids on a geologically sensitive catchment in the umava Mountains, southwestern Czech Republic, a region with a long history of human disturbance. A 30 cm long sediment core (I) from ertovo Lake was analyzed for natural and artifical radionuclides, metals, diatoms, chrysophytes, and pollen in sediments accumulated during the last 200 years. A second core (II), extending to 95 cm, included sediment judged to be free of atmospheric deposition of pollutants associated with the Industrial Revolution. Chronostratigraphic markers include several changes in the pollen assemblages corresponding to well-documented changes in land-use, and distinct distributions of ¹³⁷Cs, ¹³⁴Cs and ²⁴¹Am from weapons testing and the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl, Russia. These markers corroborate the ²¹⁰Pb dating and, together, produce a reliable chronology extending back nearly to 1800 A.D.Stratigraphic profiles of Cu, Pb, and Zn in Core I are unlike any previously reported in the literature. Concentrations of Cu, Pb, and Zn remain generally above 100, 400, and 200 g g^-1, respectively, for the 200 years represented by Core I. These values are unusually high for sediments from a watershed with no known heavy-metal ore bodies. Accumulation rates for Cu, Pb, and Zn, which include both atmospheric and watershed contributions, are also high (ca 1, > 1 and > 1 g cm^-2 yr^-1, respectively) for the same period, although the anthropogenic contribution of Zn rose from nearly zero at 1800 A.D. The Cu and Pb accumulation rates rose dramatically about 1640 A.D.Accumulation rates of anthropogenically-derived Be, a relatively abundant element in the soft coals of the region, are also elevated by about 0.01 g cm^-2 yr^-1 in sediments of this period. Vanadium accumulation rates increased only since 1980 A.D., presumably along with increased consumption of oil.Diatom assemblages illustrate that the lake was acidic (pH between 4.5 and 5) through at least the past 200 years. The pH declined significantly (from ca 5 to 4) between 1960 and 1985 with a slight increase to 4.5 in the last few years. Recent diatom and chrysophyte assemblages suggest high trace metal concentrations, consistent with the present lake-water chemistry.     

青海表土花粉分布规律及其与植被的关系

对青海地区63个样点进行植被调查及表土样点分析结果显示:青海地区山地针叶林、针阔混交林、高山灌丛-灌丛草甸、温带草原、灌木-半灌木荒漠及高寒荒漠植被区均有相对独特的花粉组合特征。乔木类中桦呈超代表性,云杉、柏、杨属呈低代表性;灌木、草本中白刺、沙拐枣、柽柳呈低代表性,蒿、藜、麻黄呈超代表性,蔷薇科金露梅、银露梅在自身为优势种的落叶灌丛群落中呈低代表性,在针阔叶林、灌丛草甸过渡带中呈适中代表性。禾本科、莎草科、菊科、豆科、十字花科呈低代表性。A/C值在不同生态环境下的变化幅度较大,但数据组显示A/C值中位数值由半干旱向干旱植被区逐次降低,如草甸和草原为4.14,高山灌丛为2.93,荒漠草原为1.22,荒漠灌丛为0.13,荒漠戈壁为0.05。可见,A/C值能很好地反映环境干湿程度,是环境干旱程度的良好指标。     

Devensian Late-glacial and early Flandrian environmental history of the Vale of Pickering,Yorkshire, England

Pollen, sedimentological and charcoal particle analyses are presented from Devensian Late-glacial and early- to mid-Flandrian deposits from a former lake in the Vale of Pickering, Yorkshire. The combined analytical methods provide evidence for a short-lived climatic deterioration towards the end of the Late-glacial Interstadial, followed by a brief recovery prior to the Loch Lomond Stadial. This deterioration may be correlated with one of the ‘pre-Younger Dryas’ cooling periods identified not only in other pollen sequences from Britain and Europe, but from such diverse sources as Foraminifera from the Norwegian Sea and electrical conductivity measurements from the Greenland ice sheet. Loss-on-ignition and magnetic susceptibility data suggest that the Loch Lomond Stadial was characterised by an initial prolonged temperature decline, followed by a sudden more severe downturn resulting in particularly intense solifluction. Radiocarbon accelerator dating of the early Flandrian marl deposits illustrates the problem of age determination in calcareous lakes, and an estimate of the magnitude of ‘hard water error’ is obtained. The local population expansion of Alnus glutinosa is dated to 7640 ± 85 yr BP, but there is possible evidence for a Late-glacial presence of the tree, the significance of which is discussed in relation to other sites in east Yorkshire. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中国北方森林群落现代花粉与植被和气候的关系

53 pollen traps and surface samples were collected in order to detect the characteristics of pollen assemblages and their relationships with vegetation and climate in 16 forest communities located in 10 mountains in northern China. The results show that 72% of the pollen taxa (80 taxa) are the same between the traps and the surface samples. The dominant taxa in the plant communities are consistent with the main pollen taxa in the pollen assemblages at the same sites. In Pinus plant communities, both Pinus pollen influx and concentration are higher, indicating the high pollen productivity and good pollen preservation ability of Pinus. In Picea and Abies plant communities, Picea and Abies have lower pollen influxes but higher concentrations, suggesting their low pollen productivities but better pollen preservation abilities. In Betula and Quercus plant communities, Betula and Quercus have higher pollen influxes but lower concentrations, revealing their high pollen productivities but poor pollen preservation abilities. The study of relationships between pollen and vegetation with discriminant analysis shows that pollen assemblages from both trap and surface samples can reflect the characteristics of different communities and distinguish different ecological areas, but surface samples can reflect the dominant components of communities much better than the traps. The study on correlations between pollen assemblages and climate with DCCA reveals that significant correlations exist between pollen assemblages and mean temperature of the coldest month (r = 0.84 for trap samples, r = 0.72 for surface samples), and then annual mean precipitation (r = 0.73 for trap samples, r = 0.71 for surface samples).     

黄土高原表土花粉与植被覆盖度定量模型的建立及应用

黄土高原是一个气候变化敏感区,亦是一个生态环境脆弱区,更是我国人口-资源-环境矛盾最为集中的区域之一。因此,构建适合于黄土高原表土花粉与植被覆盖度定量模型对了解过去植被覆盖度的演变以及人与环境之间的关系具有重要意义。本工作基于黄土高原443个表土花粉数据和2000~2015年的归一化植被指数（NDVI）,采用逐步回归法（Stepwise）、增长回归树法（BRT）、局部加权加权平均法（LWWA）、加权平均偏最小二乘法（WA-PLS）和最佳类比法（MAT）,结合植被覆盖度（FVC）和年均降水量（MAP）、年均气温（Tann）、1月月均温（T1）、7月月均温（T7）、有效湿度（MAP/ET0）这5个气象要素数据,构建表土花粉与植被覆盖度定量模型;通过普通检验、留一交叉检验（LOO）、自助法检验（Bootstrap）和检验空间自相关性的h-block检验方法对定量模型进行检验,进而筛选出最优模型;最后,利用31个全新世地层花粉数据重建黄土高原过去植被覆盖度,探讨其变化特征。结果表明：1）FVC、MAP、T1、T7和MAP/ET0是黄土高原环境变化的5个重要因子,其中,FVC的第一排序轴特征值/第二排序轴特征值（λ1/λ2）最大（0.47）,单一解释变量最高（8.75）,其与花粉组合的相关性最强（0.66）,可用于构建表土花粉与植被覆盖度定量模型;2）采用Stepwise、BRT、LWWA、WA-PLS和MAT这5种方法分别建立表土花粉-植被覆盖度定量模型,根据观测值与预测值的决定系数（R²）、最大偏差（Max.bias）和预测均方根误差（REMSP）评估构建的模型,结果显示BRT模型表现更优,可用于黄土高原过去植被覆盖度的定量重建;3）全新世FVC重建结果显示,早、中全新世黄土高原FVC较高,其中7.0 cal.ka B.P.时达到峰值（平均值为0.68）;但自4.0 cal.ka B.P.开始,植被覆盖度下降,特别是3.0~2.0 cal.ka B.P.下降明显,平均值低于0.30。通过与研究区内其他气候指标和人类活动强度指标的对比,认为早、中全新世黄土高原植被覆盖度的变化主要受自然气候变化的影响,而晚全新世以来FVC的减少可能更多地与人类活动强度增加有关。

     

Towards automation of palynology 2: the use of texture measures and neural network analysis for automated identification of optical images of pollen grains

The automation of palynology (the identification and counting of pollen grains and spores) will be a small step for image recognition, but a giant stride for palynology. Here we show the first successful automated identification, with 100% accuracy, of a realistic number of taxa. The technique used involves a neural network classifier applied to surface texture data from light microscope images. A further significance of the technique is that it could be adapted for the identification of a wide range of biological objects, both microscopic and macroscopic. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wisconsinan Late-glacial environmental change in southern New England: A regional synthesis

A synthesis of vegetational and climatic history during the Wisconsinan Late-glacial (13-9 ka BP) is presented for the southern New England region. The interpretations are based on a number of pollen-stratigraphical investigations supported by plant macrofossil data. Chronology is based partly on AMS dates of plant macrofossils. Reference is made briefly to the controversial nature of the evidence for deglaciation in the region. A curve representing mean July temperature changes in the region during the period 13-9 ka BP is provided.     

Pliocene—pleistocene boundary in the Kleszczów Graben at Belchatów,central Poland

The Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary, defined using pollen analysis, has been recorded in sections at the Belchatów outcrop, Kleszczów Graben, central Poland. The boundary is located at the top of the green clay subunit of the Tertiary Clayey-sandy unit. A pollen flora of Reuverian C type, dominated by pine, 10–20% of ‘Reuverian elements’ and scarce thermophilous Tertiary trees, was found directly below this subunit. Cold stage floras of Praetiglian type were, in turn, recorded in the ?ekińsko Formation, lying directly on the green clays. The Pliocene—Pleistocene transition at Belchatów demonstrates the characteristic features of this boundary in western Europe, that is, the disappearance of Tertiary thermophilous tree pollen taxa, followed by a cooling to open-forest or forest-steppe conditions. Both pollen analysis and geological data suggest continuous sedimentation at least from the Upper Pliocene to the Prae-Tiglian, with no change of sediment sources and no marked hiatuses. The fluvial deposits of the Praetiglian ?ekińsko Formation, although Pleistocene in age, mark a final period in the Tertiary evolution of the Kleszczów Graben. Later, there is a hiatus to the deposition of the first glacigenic sediments in the region possibly of Elsterian age.